Jon Stewart torched Fox News personality Tucker Carlson as a “dishonest propagandist” for, among other things, his questionable commentary on Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine.
“There’s nothing you can take out of context” with people like Carlson “because none of it is real,” comedian Stewart said on the latest episode of New York Times reporter Kara Swisher’s “Sway” podcast released Thursday.
“You know, he’s admitted when he’s cornered, he lies. It’s all a game and a performance,” Stewart continued. “I mean, honestly, I have no idea what the fuck that guy believes, truly.”
Carlson last week defended Vladimir Putin amid Russia’s advances on Ukraine, noting among other things that the Russian president had never called him a racist or threatened to get him fired.
Since Russia’s military invasion, Carlson has toned down his pro-Russia rhetoric and admitted he was wrong to downplay the crisis — but snidely blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for his mistake.
Swisher suggested Carlson had given Putin a pass because he hadn’t done anything personal to him. “Well, he did not take your parking space, Jon. That’s what it read like to me,” she said.
“Well, isn’t that the way we judge dictators and atrocities?” responded Stewart. “Are they nice to me? You know, this Hitler guy? You know, yes, has he done some things? But I gotta tell you something, always holds the door, very polite.”
Stewart later questioned why Fox founder Rupert Murdoch was “trying to destroy the fabric of this country.”
“I don’t know if it’s ideological or he just thinks, this is where the money is,” Stewart said. “But how somebody can in good conscience put a shithead like that on television every night to say those types of things? That’s where the responsibility lies in my mind.”